Our Political Bureau / BUSINESS STANDARD May 16, 2003, 00:00 IST
The Central Board of Trustees administering the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) would meet on May 31 to discuss the recommendations on the interest rate payable to members of the fund, labour ministry sources said today.
On May 22, the board’s finance and investment sub-committee will recommend an interest rate on the basis of the returns from the Special Deposit Schemes (SDS), in which 80 per cent of the fund has been invested.
Though Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma is against any lowering of the interest rate, the finance ministry says it will be impossible to retain it at the present 9.5 per cent as the Centre recently cut the interest rate on the SDS by 1 per cent.
Verma is the chairman of the Central Board of Trustees. Earlier, the Central Board of Trustees had issued a circular to regional provident commissioners asking them to stop interest payments from April. It had said further orders would be given only after the sub-committee submits it report.
The finance ministry had also issued a notification barring any new investments in the SDS from June.
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